No direct funding cuts, but local school districts feeling the pinch

the question: Questions have been raised about whether Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has made cuts to public education. Staffers in the governor's office say there have been no cuts to education. So, why does it seem that there is less money to go around in Louisiana's local school districts?

the answer: While there may have been no direct cuts to public education in Louisiana, local school boards are struggling. Scott Richard, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association, gives some details about the financial challenges local school districts face.

» Based on the cumulative calculations, counting federal and state dollars, with the majority of the reductions coming from the state, there has been more than $1 billion in reduced funding over the past three- to five years, with the price of goods and services rising. Richard told The Daily Advertiser Friday that the numbers come from surveys returned to LSBA by chief financial officers and business managers of 61 of the state's 69 school districts.

» Although an annual 2.75 percent increase was written into the Minimum Foundation Program, the formula used to allocate state funds to local school districts, that increase has not been implemented in four years, Richard said.

It is true that the total amount of MFP money has risen in most school districts, but that is because there are more students in the system. Unfortunately, some of that money does not stay in its home district, because an increasing number of students are attending schools outside their home districts and the money follows the students. For example, if a student with a Lafayette address attends a private school through the voucher program, MFP money goes to that private school. That is also true for virtual charter schools with out of state headquarters and other special programs. In addition, the MFP is funding students in the juvenile justice system and state-run special schools, which used to be paid for by the state's general fund.

» Programs like Ensuring Literacy for All and Ensuring Numeracy for All, which helped at-risk students, have been dropped because they are no longer funded by the state.

» The state has passed its fiduciary duty to provide for employer contributions to retirement funds on to local school boards, which means a greater outlay of money by local districts.

» Unfunded mandates - programs that by law must be continued by local school districts, but have lost or never had state funding are biting into local school district coffers. Here are just a few examples Richard provided:

» Local school boards must provide summer remediation for students who do not meet standards. In the past, the state provided per pupil funding to assist in providing those programs, but now, school boards pay for them.

» Nationally certified teachers. The law states that these teachers will receive an additional $5,000 annually in pay. Local school boards have inherited that cost from the state.

» Nonpublic transportation. The state no longer provides financial assistance for transportation to and from school for private and parochial school students. That cost has been passed on to local school boards.

» Dual enrollment. The state used to provide funding assistance to universities and school districts for students who are taking high school and college classes at the same time, but the funding stream has dwindled, leaving local school districts to make up the difference.

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No direct funding cuts, but local school districts feeling the pinch

the question: Questions have been raised about whether Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has made cuts to public education. Staffers in the governor's office say there have been no cuts to